Showcase Your Skills in the 2026 Animaga x Clip Studio Paint Manga Drawing Competition!

Calling all manga artists, comic creators, and webtoon illustrators! Animaga is incredibly proud to launch our official 2026 Manga Drawing Competition, hosted in brilliant partnership with Clip Studio Paint.

We want to challenge you to showcase your storytelling, paneling layout, and overall artistic flair. This is your chance to create an original one-shot comic or webtoon based on this year’s official creative theme. Whether you are a veteran creator or drawing your very first sequence, we want to see your work!

The 2026 Theme: “The Path of an Idol”

What does it truly mean to follow stardom? Whether your story focuses on the blinding glitz and glamour of the main stage, dives deep into the grueling and exhausting behind-the-scenes grind, or takes a completely fantastical, supernatural twist on what a modern celebrity is—we want to see your unique interpretation of what it takes to walk the path of an idol.

Incredible Prizes and Rewards

To support your creative journey and give you the absolute best tools for the job, we have teamed up with Clip Studio Paint to offer some stellar rewards:

• Grand Prize (1st Place): A full 1-year license for Clip Studio Paint EX.

• Runner-Up Prize (2nd Place): A full 1-year license for Clip Studio Paint PRO.

• Participation Reward: To ensure everyone walks away with something to power their art, every single creator who submits a valid entry and completes our quick post-submission survey will receive a 3-month Clip Studio Paint EX activation code for their ongoing and future projects!

Rules & Eligibility Criteria

To keep the playing field fair and fun for everyone, please keep these core guidelines in mind:

• Format Options: Submissions can be entered either as a traditional, multi-panel manga/comic one-shot page format, or structured cleanly as a vertical scrolling webtoon.

• Originality Limit: Entry is entirely free, with a maximum of one (1) entry per creator. All submissions must be 100% original works created specifically for this contest and must be suitable for All Ages (SFW).

• Human Creativity Policy: This contest is a celebration of authentic human artistry, craftsmanship, and practice. The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools is strictly prohibited at any and all stages of the creation process. Use of AI will result in immediate disqualification.

• Age Limit: Contestants under 18 years old must obtain explicit consent from a parent or legal guardian to participate.

• Copyrights: Creators completely retain their own copyright! CELSYS and Animaga simply reserve the right to use the entries for promotional purposes (excluding direct sales or commercial exploitation without your prior consent).

Judging & Selection Process

The final winners will be decided via a balanced combination of public voting (held over the weekend of Animaga) and a formal evaluation by a dedicated jury panel. Our jury will feature seasoned industry experts alongside a very special guest judge whose identity will be revealed very shortly! The final results announcement will drop on 31st August, 2026.

Key Dates & Timeline

• Submissions Opened: Wednesday, 8 July 2026

• Submissions Close: Friday, 14 August 2026 at 23:59 AEST

• Public Voting: Over the Animaga weekend

• Winners Announced: 31 August 2026

How to Enter

Ready to put pen to paper? Please make sure to review the full technical specifications, layout formatting dimensions, and terms and conditions on our application page. Once your panels are inked and polished, you can submit your final entry directly through our official form:

👉 Submit Your Manga Entry Here 

Get your ideas flowing, plan out those pages, and have an amazing time bringing your stories to life. We cannot wait to read what you create!